At this point, Cuccinelli could either rewrite the civil investigative demand or appeal the decision.

The subpoenas, called civil investigative demands, ask for information in several areas.

The scope of a civil investigative demand is different from that of a subpoena.

As with subpoenas, the recipient of a civil investigative demand may file a petition to limit or quash.

Those letters, known as "civil investigative demands," requested detailed information the Justice Department could use in examining the Delta-American deal.

Officials of the actuarial firms said they had received "civil investigative demands," or written requests for information, from the department's antitrust division.

Microsoft officials said the Government's written request, known as a civil investigative demand, was expected to be received in the next day or two.

On May 27, 2010, the University of Virginia began legal proceedings challenging Cuccinelli's investigative demand.

"We received a civil investigative demand, which is an announcement to conduct a preliminary investigation, about two weeks ago," he said.

"We intend to cooperate with the Illinois attorney general's civil investigative demand relating to Zyprexa," the company said.